There are a few trees and shrubs, of which the alder and buckthorn are
examples, that so seldom show any kind of a tint that I have not
included them in my list; and there are several species of oak that
display such a motley combination of green and rust, with faint shades
of purple and yellow, that it is impossible to classify them. In my
list I have only named the genera, except when the species are
distinguished by important differences. The brown hues of the oak and
the beech are the tints only of their dead leaves or dead parts of
leaves; but pure browns are sometimes seen in the living leaf of the
snowy mespilus, the pear-tree, and the smoke-tree; in others they
occur so seldom that they may be classed as accidental hues. I ought
to add that only a small part of what may be said of the tints of
trees is unqualifiedly correct. They are greatly modified by
circumstances which cannot always be understood. I have seen maples
that always remained green, apple-trees dressed in scarlet and yellow,
and lilacs in a deep violet; but I have never seen a purple, crimson,
or scarlet leaf on any of the trees of Division I. of the Synopsis.
SYNOPSIS OF THE TINTS OF DIFFERENT TREES AND SHRUBS IN SEPTEMBER AND
OCTOBER.